The Trump administration has imposed fresh sanctions on four officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC), including judges Kimberly Prost of Canada and Nicolas Yann Guillou of France, and deputy prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal.
In a statement, the State Department said the designations were made under Executive Order 14203, which allows penalties against individuals engaged in “malign efforts” by the ICC.
These measures “impose tangible and significant consequences on those directly engaged in the ICC’s transgressions against the United States and Israel,” the statement declared.
The sanctions freeze the assets of ICC officials and ban them from entering or conducting business in the United States.
Judge Prost was sanctioned for her ruling authorizing investigations into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, while Judge Guillou was targeted for approving arrest warrants against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Deputy Prosecutors Khan and Niang face sanctions for “continuing to support illegitimate ICC actions against Israel.”
Netanyahu praised the decision, thanking Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “This is a firm measure against the mendacious smear campaign against the State of Israel and the IDF, and for truth and justice.”
Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a signatory to the Rome Statute, meaning the ICC has no legitimate jurisdiction over their nationals.
During his first term, president Donald Trump had already moved against the Court when it tried to prosecute Americans. Though former President Joe Biden later rolled back those measures, he maintained that Washington still rejected ICC claims of authority over non-signatory states.
